Asklemmy

Check out refilleries in your area if you have them. You'll pay a bit of a premium, but they are usually high quality, local goods and low/no plastic. Usually stuff like soaps, personal care, that sort of thing. They are a godsend if you or someone you know is allergic to fragrance(s) too, as they have a variety of unscented soaps, dishwasher detergent, etc.

And, you get to bring your own bottles to refill, which is kinda nice if you like to buy in bulk.

Sugar is gonna be hard to find, since it has to be imported, unless you have sugarbeet farms in your area.

Walk

Ask

Low-tech methods

I don’t believe, at least in Germany, that it is possible for sugar to be made ‘locally’ at a reasonable price and with enough volume to be able to stock shelves. I don’t see why the situation should be different in (I assume) the US.

You might try gift shops. They sometimes have ‘fancy’ versions of basic stuff to gift away. Looking at their products and producers might give you a hint at where to start researching.

You could open Google maps (or any other commercial directory) and try to find shops in your town that you wouldn’t otherwise notice because they don’t advertise on channels you’d consume.

Where are you? In Texas we have a lot of little Mexican markets. No idea who owns them.

Local grocery stores. There are mom and pop type ones in some places, but most are going to be chains these days. In a nearby town was a single location family owned grocery store that was very popular despite being just down the road from a major regional chain, it failed because the real estate market and shopping trends in COVID made it impossible for them to stay open; it is now a very busy Whole Foods. So small family owned grocery stores are dying.

The thing is that shopping entirely local is very hard to do and even harder to do if money is a concern. You have to make compromises like driving twice as far or spending twice as much.

Those boutique stores are often failing because they can't compete unless the town is a tourist spot or there is a wealthy enough population for bored housewives to have their operating costs subsidized.

If you really want to go local, meaning locally produced products, then you will have to do your shopping online or contact the company to see if their products are in any stores.

Soooooometimes shops that sell organic vegs also do local (but not always which is wild to me).